The storyline everyone wants. From sportswriters, to the fans. Pitt-UCLA.

The Bruins had a 13 point lead with a little more than 5 minutes left, but nearly blew it. From 46-33 to 49-49 under a minute left. Still UCLA was able to get a score and force Indiana to make the big turnovers on inbound plays. UCLA won 54-49

Shame Sean Miller and Xavier couldn’t get the upset — not to mention OSU’s Greg Oden avoiding being called for a flagrant for shoving the Cage into the second row on that foul. It absolutely deflated the Musketeers in the OT.

Butler-Maryland was a lot of fun (and a Butler 62-59 win was nice) — seriously, does the ACC offer a special camp that teaches flopping — but thankfully it’s over and now just a little time before the VCU-Pitt tip.

5:55: I may be a little late on the liveblogging. I need to stick with the L-ville-TAMU game.

5:58: Not that it matters. The Pitt game is being shown locally in my area (meaning it’s blacked out for the PPV package) and they are sticking with L-ville.

6:54: Okay. Nice 41-26 at the half. Still, VCU has been a second half team. Especially Maynor. Graves has been tremendous in stopping him. Has him frustrated and pissed. That’s good.

The weakness of VCU is their defense and Pitt has taken advantage of it. Beautiful to see everyone scoring — no one in double digits.

If VCU goes on a run to start, I will be going silent. Hey it worked in the first half.

8:28: Survive and advance.

I’ll say this, VCU did it 3 straight games. I would call that a trend. Coming back from deeper and deeper deficits. George Mason, Duke and then Pitt.
As much as Pitt nearly lost it, VCU mounted a tremendous comeback and did everything right. Not just the tremendous defensive pressure and effort — but hitting those shots. There were a bunch of deep, hands in the face 3s and circus shots. That was impressive.

Now, Pitt seemed so close to wilting and breaking. After Fields missed 2 FTs at the end of regulation, they regrouped. They lost Kendall to fouling out and they still did it.  The team got the win in the OT. When momentum, the crowd and everything had turned against them.

What is important is that Pitt is in the Sweet 16.

Here’s a shock, I know. The big key for Pitt will be Aaron Gray. Gray was hoping for Duke to win so that he could make his Uncle Steve choose team or family.

”We had a short conversation,” Gray said Friday during an interview session. ”He said he was going to be here [today], and that he would love to see us play against his alma mater, but that’s he’s just real excited about our team and that he’s said all along that he’s more of a Pitt fan than a Duke fan.”

Uncle Steve can express his loyalty when Pitt (28-7) meets No. 11 VCU (28-6) in the West Regional second-round matchup today. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:50 p.m.

Aaron Gray, before the tournament, also expressed desire to play Duke. His father, Michael, also aspired for the matchup of one storied program in Duke going up against a Panthers team that’s bidding for its fourth appearance in the Sweet 16.

”It’s funny because my dad was he was sitting there hoping for Duke to win, but that at time same time it was so hard for him to cheer for Duke,” Gray said.

It’s always hard to root for Duke. The only exception might have been when they were playing UNLV in the early 90s.

In a brief, somber aside, Gray’s 2003 HS class got a little smaller at the beginning of the month. Yesterday, she was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

One of the guys who will be going at Gray will be Michael Anderson — getting a puff piece from his local paper.

His role, however, could well be altered tonight. Anderson might be asked to match up with Pitt center Aaron Gray, a 7-foot, 270-pound senior. VCU’s other primary post player, Wil Fameni, broke his nose Thursday night against Duke. He was fitted for a plastic face mask Friday, but his level of effectiveness is in doubt.

“If I have to guard Gray, I’ll just try to use my quickness to my advantage,” said Anderson, who has started every game this season for the Rams, averaging 6.4 points and 4.7 rebounds.

Using his girth is not an option. Anderson is all of 190 pounds – exactly the build that chased him out of his first love, football, and onto the basketball court in middle school.

Anderson is a decent player and chose VCU over Providence.

As for the game, well Orlando Antigua was responsible for scouting the Rams. As soon as VCU had beaten Duke, Gene Collier had noted that VCU’s win should not have been a huge shock. To many, it wasn’t. VCU was a popular upset pick.

Having said that, everyone locally is writing, yes VCU is the kind of team that gives Pitt trouble and is fully capable of beating them. Having said that, they continue by noting that if Pitt loses, it will be a disappointing thud to end the season.

The Pitt players concede that they really didn’t know much about VCU. No kidding. They do expect a familiar approach from the Rams.

If VCU has an advantage at guard, Pitt most certainly has an advantage at forward and center. The Rams’ tallest starter is 6 feet 7, and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon expects Grant to employ a similar game plan that Wright State coach Brad Brownell did — double down on Pitt 7-foot center Aaron Gray and make the guards knock down outside shots.

“VCU will do the same things as Wright State,” Dixon said. “We’ve done a very good job with it all year.”

If that happens, Pitt’s outside shooters must be able to make shots again. Gray only attempted six shots against Wright State as the Panthers relied on the guards, who made 10 of 21 attempts from behind the 3-point arc. Pitt is shooting 38 percent from 3-point range for the season.

What VCU has that Wright State doesn’t is speed and athleticism at the guard position to recover on a pass from the inside-out to get a hand up in the face of the shooters. I’d love to say I’m confident in the perimeter shooting for this game, but I just don’t know what Ramon, Fields and Graves will do. It has felt like a crapshoot the past month. They have to shoot it, but I just don’t know if they’ll go down.

Gray knows he will get a lot of attention. And that he has to do well.

This will shock everyone. VCU will try to speed the tempo up. Pitt will try to slow it down.

This blog on Richmond.com following VCU in Buffalo is worth reading after a couple beers.

You know, last year, the Bradley upset of Kansas was barely a blip with all of the spectacular first round upsets. I mean, there was anguish in Lawrence and jubilation in Peoria, but the individual story was lost. Why? Well, Kansas losing early for the second straight year kind of killed some of the “Cinderella” part to be more of “Kansas loses early, again.” Plus, the whole issue going into the tournament that week was did the MVC deserve all their bids and about how deserving mid-majors were of getting in? That made every upset part of a collective story and a lot less media attention directly on the teams. It was more of, they play some ball in the CAA and the MVC type thing. The focus on George Mason didn’t really begin until the following weekend when they got to to the Elite 8 and Final 4.
Fast forward a year, and there were no 5-12 upsets. In fact the only real upsets were VCU over Duke and Winthrop over ND. Considering Winthrop was underseeded and was a popular “upset” pick, that makes this one of the least exciting first rounds in years. (Useless factoid that may only interest me, in the NCAA books (PDF, pg. 64), they don’t consider 10-7 or 9-8 upsets legit upsets. They only count upsets if the seeding is 5 spots or more. That actually makes sense.)

That means all attention is on VCU. So there are tons of stories about the team. How they have a symbolic chain of unity. The school is selling lots of t-shirts and getting lots of attention.

Online orders, which typically come in a trickle, have come in torrents this week. When Gonzales signed on to his computer yesterday morning, he found more than a hundred new online orders waiting to be filled.

“We’ve shipped everywhere,” he said.

A T-shirt is in the works commemorating VCU’s win over Duke, but Gonzales said there are licensing agreements to be worked out before it can be printed. A Sweet 16 T-shirt is ready for the printer if VCU beats the University of Pittsburgh tonight.

…

Cynthia Schmidt, VCU’s marketing director, said sports Web logs have been bursting with comments about VCU’s victory over Duke. When one blogger this week likened VCU to a community college, VCU’s alumni and friends fired back with both barrels.

Schmidt has collected many of the comments, trying to edit out the four-letter words before passing them along to higher-ups.

Someone make sure to pass along to the Pitt locker room that VCU is already to print Sweet 16 T-shirts. The attention is also reflected on people looking for more info on VCU.

“The cool thing is, a lot of things are going on.” VCU is the state’s largest school and one of its most diverse, he said. It has the nation’s top public arts college, the top graduate advertising school, and a leading medical center, he added.

People will learn that, Jarrett says, when they visit the school or even its Web site.

That may already be happening. A VCU spokeswoman said yesterday that hits on the VCU Web site in March are up 26 percent over last March’s hits.

She added that between 8 and 9 p.m. Thursday, while the game was being played, the Web site had 212,000 page views. Between 9 and 10 p.m., which covered the last stages and post-game, the total was 548,000.

The academic side never likes to hear it, but big splashes in the athletic field does wonder for attention, money and applications. I mean, I know I was unaware that VCU was the biggest state school in Virginia (or is that biggest “commonwealth school?”).
The kid getting the most attention and is most deserved is Guard Eric Maynor.

Welcome to “Maynor Mania,” as one questioner coined it during yesterday’s press conference preceding the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Maynor’s ability to elevate himself when games are on the line has created this phenomenon. The latest in a string of such clutch performances came Thursday, when the 6-2, 165-pound sophomore point guard scored six points in the final 1:24 to lift VCU to a 79-77 victory over Duke.

Maynor capped the flurry with a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds left, sending the Blue Devils packing and the 11th-seeded Rams into a second-round pairing with third-seeded Pittsburgh today at about 5:50 p.m.

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” VCU coach Anthony Grant said of Maynor Mania. “I like the term.”

So, it falls to Pitt to be the Goliath in this game.

Reporters flocked to the VCU news conference yesterday and filled its locker room, wondering how many congratulatory text messages players and coaches had received (coach Anthony Grant estimated he’d received 80). They wanted sophomore point guard Eric Maynor to replay his game-winning shot and even came up with a cute, new phrase: Maynor Mania.

Third-seeded Pitt might as well have stayed at the hotel. About a third as many reporters attended its news conference. Even fewer went to the trouble of visiting its locker room.

It’s no secret. The Panthers will wear black hats tonight. This city has adopted VCU the way Pittsburgh adopted 15th-seeded Coppin State in a 1997 East Regional at the Civic Arena.

Most of the 18,000-plus fans on hand tonight and the majority of fans nationwide figure to be rooting hard against Pitt, even if a VCU win would screw up their brackets.

“That’s motivation for us,” said senior guard Antonio Graves, who will draw the assignment of guarding Maynor. “It puts a chip on our shoulder that we have to use. We have to match their intensity and play like we have nothing to lose, too.”

Senior center Aaron Gray doesn’t mind playing the villain’s role. He knows VCU has become a tournament darling and that people want Pitt to lose.

“Definitely, but I think the whole season people have wanted Pitt to lose,” Gray said. “I think people have kind of considered us overrated, ranked higher than we deserved. It’s nothing we’re not used to and nothing we can’t overcome.”

Hey, why not play the disrespect card at this point?

— Former Pitt hoops coach (1994-1999) Ralph Willard’s Holy Cross team wasn’t able to pull the 13 over 4 seed upset last night and lost to Southern Illinois 61-51. His Holy Cross team was also in the West Region to add to the Pitt connection. It’s down to Dixon and Howland as the best Pitt related guy in that part of the bracket.

— If there was any reason I wanted to play Duke before, after seeing this flop I’d want to play them and beat them so badly.

— Damn, those Dukies have broken an opponents nose in two of their last three games. First it was Tyler Hansbrough and now VCU’s Wil Fameni. He’ll be wearing a mask against Pitt which is an advantage for us. It seems to always take guys a few games to get used to wearing a big plastic guard over their face. If only it had happened to Eric Maynor…(Thanks to TMGPanther in the comments for the link.)

From Chris Dokish at Panther Rants, we get an update on how former CB Darelle Revis ran his 40 yard dash. I’m never been a huge fan of so much being made on fractions of a second but perhaps that’s why I’m blogging and not scouting for an NFL team.

Former Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis may have solidified his spot in the 1st round today as he reportedly ran a sub-4.40 40 yard dash today in Pittsburgh. There is no exact official time since many different NFL personnel time him at the same time, but times ranged from 4.36 to 4.40, with most timing him at 4.38.

Obviously he did not lose any speed while waiting for weeks during the season for an opposing QB to throw the ball his way.

VCU’s upset over Duke has been chronicled all over the internet and TV for the last 8 hours. From what I saw and what you probably already know, they can beat Pitt. Conversely, Pitt can beat them. From what I saw, here’s a bit of a scouting report for you all out there.

— They play a great high tempo defense. Combining a nice full court press with a nice half court trap is one of their calling cards. At times I felt we were sloppy on the offensive side of the ball. Maybe it was because we got into that popular Pitt thought process that “we’re the higher seed so we don’t need to worry”. If we do the same thing against VCU they’re going to make us pay with those defensive strategies.

ESPN’s team page for the Rams tells us how to beat a team like this.

Will Lose When …
Teams are able to handle the VCU traps all over the court and slow the tempo of the game. If the Rams can’t create turnovers off their pressure, their offense can become stagnant.

Yup, that pretty much sounds like how it needs to go for Pitt. Now as for how it actually WILL go…

— Eric Maynor feels no pressure. He is their main man when it comes down to the end of a tight game. If you need to see it in video form, click here to watch the Eric Maynor Show.

He’s not even their leading scorer this year though. B.A. Walker leads with 14.6 per game, Maynor with 13.9, and followed by Jesse Pellot-Rosa with 13.1.

—They play pretty physically for a guard dominated team. None of the three guards mentioned above are afraid to get a little bruised up both on offense and defense. This Pitt team doesn’t have the toughness of past teams so this could be something to watch for. Chances are also that someone from either team will get a little bloody. There were 3-4 times when players from both teams had to leave the game to get some blood cleaned up.

–Wil Fameni might be prone to doing this. He is going to be starting at one of the forward positions and picking up 4, 4, 3, and 5 fouls in the last four games could leave us matching up someone like Mike Cook, Levon Kendall, or Sam Young on him in foul trouble or his lesser talented backup.

–All of America will be rooting against us. If you’re trying to find the way it affects the game, not only will VCU fans be vocal for their team but so will fans from Maryland and Butler who play in the game before and end up sticking around.

Anyways, tomorrow’s game is slated for a 5:50 tip so expect something 10-20 minutes later that originally planned.

Really, doesn’t the Athletic Department try to at least pretend to coordinate things between the Basketball and Football side of things. I realize the spring practice schedule was set in advance. But so were the dates for the NCAA Tournament. You are telling me they couldn’t at least have waited until Monday or not on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament to start practices until Monday. It’s hell on us one-man global content providers.

Today is Pro-day. Most scouts are coming to see Darrelle Revis, but there are several other players hoping for a good showing to catch some eyes.

More than 40 NFL personnel are expected to attend, including Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith and secondary coaches Ray Horton of the Steelers, Teryl Austin of the Arizona Cardinals and Tim Lewis of the Carolina Panthers.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, who coached 16 seasons in the NFL, hopes the interest in Revis has a trickle-down effect on linebacker H.B. Blades, quarterback Tyler Palko and punter Adam Graessle. All four attended the Combine.

“This is an important day for (Blades) and Revis,” Wannstedt said. “When you have a few good players, it draws more scouts for everybody else.”

Other former Pitt players expected to work out for NFL scouts include kicker David Abdul, safety Sam Bryant, tight end Steve Buches, tailback Kelvin Drewery, linebacker Clint Session and center Joe Villani.

I’m just wondering, does Gil Brandt do anything other than make himself available for interviews?

And I love how a former personnel guy complains that the player is hurting himself by not doing more workouts for scouts and the teams. Of course, it’s all about making sure the player gets chances. Nothing at all with the teams, scouts and GMs wanting as many comparisons and opportunities to evaluate. Every year I hear that (probably from Gil Brandt each time), and every year I laugh at the blatant self-serving, hypocritical lies. [But I digress.]

Of course, there is a little more on the decision to put Dickerson at linebacker. Coach Wannstedt defends talked a bit more about the move.

In fact, as spring football begins tomorrow, linebacker is probably the biggest question facing the Panthers. The quarterback spot is open and will get most of the public’s attention, but with all four of the primary starters at linebacker from last year’s team gone, either by graduation or, in the case of junior Tommie Campbell, via indefinite suspension, there is no other position where Wannstedt has to find so many answers.

Wannstedt said Dickerson, who is 6 feet 2, 215 pounds and played running back and receiver last year, is one of the best athletes on the team.

“Dorin is a guy who we want to get on the field and he is the type of kid who wants to play. He wants to play badly,” Wannstedt said. “We just felt with the way our receiver position grew last year and really became a strength and with the recruiting class of running backs coming in, it would be tough to get him in the mix as much as both he and we’d like.

“At linebacker, he has a chance to do some really special things for us so we’ll see how it works out in the spring.”

Dickerson wasn’t the only player moved to linebacker in the offseason. Safeties Jemeel Brady and Shane Murray will both move up and compete at the position.

I’m not sure the right approach is to put it all on Dickerson wanting this. I want to give Wannstedt and the Pitt coaching staff the benefit of the doubt on this, but Dickerson’s potential impact on offense seemed so big that it seems a waste. When the player draws comparisons to impact with Michael and Reggie Bush, I can’t help but wonder if it has more to do with the coaches uncomfortable with him being a hybrid RB/WR; being too rigid with defining the players roles RB or WR as an either/or thing rather than just wanting him to touch the ball any way possible.

I guess I keep coming back to an article that stuck with me last summer about offenses changing:

Petrino spoke of his senior tailback Michael Bush, a 6-foot-3, 247-pound tailback who delivers punishment and first downs in equal doses. Bush rushed for 1,143 yards and 23 touchdowns last season despite missing four starts because of injuries. He is the kind of tailback that every college coach wants.

And here is what Petrino said.

“We have got to get the ball in his hands 25, 30 times a game.”

It’s a sentiment that any coach with a back as talented as Bush would voice. But look again. Petrino didn’t say that he wanted Bush to run the ball 25, 30 times a game. He wanted the ball in Bush’s hands that many times. Bush may run, but Bush will also catch passes.

Besides, think about who is coaching the linebackers this year. I’m just not comfortable with that thought either.
It’s not even logical to compare moving Safeties up to linebacker with Dickerson coming over from the offense.

I’m going to try and let it go (for now), because I know I’m repeating myself on this one.

Back to the article, it’s hard not to read between the lines that Pat Bostick will be getting every chance to grab the starting job at QB come the fall. Regardless of what happens in the spring.

Junior Bill Stull and redshirt freshman Kevan Smith will compete for the starting quarterback job but Wannstedt said the competition really won’t begin in full until the fall when freshman Pat Bostick, who was rated among the top 10 quarterbacks in the country, arrives. Bostick was originally supposed to enroll at Pitt in January but he couldn’t because of the academic calender at his high school, Manheim Township.

Wannstedt admits that Bostick will be behind but knows he’s talented enough to catch up in a hurry. He said quarterback will be one of the least of his worries because the rest of the offense has so much experience.

“We have virtually the entire offensive line returning and some of the young guys that provide depth, like a Jason Pinkston, now will have a full year under their belt,” Wannstedt said. “Our receivers are all back, our running back position is very deep, we have three of our tight ends back. What we’re going to need from our quarterback is a guy to move the chains, make good decisions and manage the game.”

Okay.

I took it quick and superficial before crashing on an AOL post last night. Just noting some easy, thoughtless similarities between last year’s NCAA Tournament and this year for Pitt. Do not panic.

Ever see old Damon Wayans stand-up? Where he talks about playing snap as a kid? Basically it would be fine until someone decided to mention his club foot. Then he would just go off and ream them verbally. That seems to have been what happened to Wright State after trying to horse-collar tackle Aaron Gray.

The Panthers saw a 13-0 lead morph into a 22-22 tie before a turning point occurred with 6:41 left in the first half, when Wright State freshman Todd Brown threw Aaron Gray to the floor and drew an intentional foul.

Bad move.

“That kind of re-ignited us,” Gray said.

Pitt proceeded to score 21 of the next 30 points to take a 43-30 lead into the intermission. The bench provided a major boost, outscoring Wright State’s, 20-9, in the first half and 36-19 overall.

After that, it seemed that Pitt just said, “Oh, you want to make it real do you, Seymour?” It wasn’t like Pitt already had a size advantage or anything. No the Wright State players wanted to have Pitt fired up while playing the rest of the way. It impressed no one for Wright State to go punk.

Fifty seconds after Jordan Pleiman — WSU’s only true post player — was called for his second foul, Todd Brown threw together an audition for WWE that seemed to wake some sleeping giants. Brown was called for an intentional foul on 7-foot Aaron Gray with 6:41 left in the first half and the Panthers responded with a 19-7 run.

A balanced offensive scoring effort with 5 players in double figures and shooting more than 50%.

“If we knock down shots like that, we’re going to be a tough out in this tournament,” said junior guard Keith Benjamin, who added six points off the bench. “That was the best we executed on offense all year. We did a great job of executing. We’ll be hard to beat if we play like that.”

Pitt’s defense also played a big part in the victory. Antonio Graves did a fine job of guarding Horizon League player of the year DaShaun Wood. Wood, who averages almost 20 points per game, was held to 13 and shot 4 for 12 from the field.

Except for that frustrating stretch in after getting out to a 13-0 lead where the team just went playground to give Wright State hope and make every Pitt fan go insane, it was the kind of performance that you want to see.

Coach Dixon talked about being and praised the team for being 9 deep, and Pitt got to do that last night. Only Levance Fields played 31 minutes. After that it was Ramon, Gray and Graves with only 26 minutes. That’s important when you know that VCU will be pushing and pressing Pitt on Saturday.

Even the Wright State partisans couldn’t help but notice that the depth of Pitt took a toll and the size difference was very visible.

Forward Jordan Pleiman stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 240 pounds, but next to Pittsburgh’s 7-foot, 270-pound Aaron Gray, he looked like a calf standing next to a steer.

Even the guys of similar size looked big in Pittsburgh uniforms, which eventually caused the mismatch that was Pitt’s 79-58 victory over the Raiders, whose most successful Division I season came to a sudden close.

“We were gun shy early,” WSU coach Brad Brownell said. “I think the bright lights got us. I was really proud that we came back to tie the score, but that took a lot out of us to do that, and then they delivered another blow.”

Still, Wright State had a fine season and did play hard. Pushing Pitt at points. Plus, their fans showed some great loyalty to the team at the end.

That’s why the some 400 Raiders fans who made the trip to Buffalo stood and filled the arena with a proud chant near game’s end:

“We Are …Wright State!”

“We Are …Wright State!”

I said loyal. Not original.

This is it. VCU upsets Duke 79-77 and sends them home after the first round for the first time since 1996.

As the last game of the night, of course the prior game would run long. Jeez Maynor is a killer. I don’t know how many of you saw what he did to George Mason in the CAA Championship. He scares the hell out of me, assuming Pitt wins.

Tip time is 10:10.

10:14: Looks like this game will be called loosely. That benefits Pitt. So does the score. 13-0 Pitt. 17:05 still to go in the half.

10:32: Well, looks like Wright St. has some fight in them. 21-15 with under 11 minutes. Gray took an extended break. Solid WSU game plan to take their time on offense and then drive when presented the opportunity.

10:39: Call a TO. Pitt just stopped playing team offense. Everyone just started launching, sloppy. Tied at 22.

10:50: Fields has really struggled lately. He seems to be trying to hit the homerun in his passes and shooting too much lately. I don’t know what it is. He just is making reckless passes, way too often.

10:53: Speeding the game up actually helped get Pitt back the lead. Not running and gunning, but getting out ahead of the defense. The bright side, assuming Pitt wins, they won’t be taking VCU lightly.

11:00: 43-30 Pitt at the half. Everybody breathing. Just a little bit of highs and lows in the first half.

11:16: Anyone else notice that Eastern Kentucky has closed to within 5 early in the second half. After leading by 27. Fire Roy Williams.

11:52: Looks like Buffalo has cleared out as the game has remained a blowout throughout the second half. Graves did a fantastic job on making DaShaun Woods a non-factor for most of the game. Ramon had a good game. The cynical view is that, of course he did, he was shooting over guards that weren’t as tall as him and played too far off. Still he hit the open looks — just hope he still does that on Saturday.

12:06: Well, after watching Ramon get stripped twice in 10 seconds, I think he won’t be getting too cocky despite his solid shooting night.

12:07: Jeff Rizk hits 1-2 at the FT line.

Final score. 79-58 Pitt wins.

Now it’s VCU. Start reviewing what worked against Marquette and Louisville in the BET and really emphasize protecting the ball and getting it inside.

Okay, so the afternoon games have hardly been shockers. A momentary scare for Maryland, but even that passed. Let’s face it, we are hoping for more of the same, at least as far as Pitt is concerned in the nightcap.

Antonio Graves got a nice feature story in USA Today.

“I got him on the phone,” Dixon says, “and now that I know him more I can imagine the smile he had through the phone, because when certain things come through that you work for, I recognize the smile he might have had.”

Four years later, Graves’ team bio still lists his happiest and most gratifying moment in sports. It’s the day he signed with Pitt.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky on recruits. Not only with Graves but when Walter Walters failed to qualify and went to Cleveland St. for a week before failing out there. Considering the NCAA emphasis on academics, Pitt dodged an additional bullet with APR issues. (Seton Hall could be heading for a minefield with that issue once Pitt recruit Mike Davis possibly finally qualifying.)

The New York Post notes what Pitt has done over the years,

They are the Big East’s forgotten power in so many ways. They just competed in their sixth league championship game in seven years, a stretch of excellence that covers two coaching administrations and is unparalleled in conference history. They are one of only 12 teams that have played in each of the last six NCAA tournaments; no other Big East school can say that.

Yet, there is something about the Pittsburgh Panthers that is easy to overlook. Georgetown beat them in that finale last week, and the Hoyas are the fashionable selection among bracketeers to enjoy the league’s longest NCAA run. Just as much energy was devoted this week to who’s not here – Syracuse missing the NCAAs, St. John’s and UConn being left out of NIT – as to who is here.

Of course, we all know why, Pitt hasn’t gotten past the Sweet 16. Syracuse in the 80s couldn’t get past G-town in the Big East Championships for years before finally breaking through. Still at least they made runs in the tournament.
I think Ray Fittipaldo is about sick of getting the e-mails and messages about how bad Gray is. I can’t say I blame him. I try to attribute it to some anxiety about the team not succeeding in the Tournament, but some of it seems like downright hatred. To the point where people don’t even want to admit when he did play well. I guess it’s the problem when you harden your position to an absolute, there are no exceptions. And even if the facts disagree, you still argue otherwise.

Just a little something I had forgotten about Wright State Coach Brad Brownwell and how basically the AD and administration went ultra-cheap on Brownwell to shove him out the door.

Brownell said if he had felt better at his situation at UNCW, it would have taken a coaching offer “really special” to make him leave. But he and athletic director Mike Capaccio couldn’t reach an agreement on a contract extension and Brownell resigned March 30 to take the job in Dayton.

“I had a couple of chances to leave there as an assistant and a couple of other times as head coach,” Brownell said. “Just building a program, being a part of something that was really special, that took a long time, that you put so much of your heart and soul into, you want to reap the rewards of that.

“It’s really a special place, but sometimes things don’t work out. Things change and you don’t always know if you feel right.”

Last year UNC-Wilmington was in the NCAA Tournament. This year they had 7 wins. That AD better have some incriminating photos of key members of the administration.

Somewhat uneventful day today, at least in the afternoon games. All of the better seeds won and by pretty large margins. You probably knew that already since most people are like me — get to a TV or computer as often as you can.

Pat Forde gives us the best and worst case scenario for each team. Pitt’s includes the best case of making it all the way to Atlanta while the worst case would be losing to Duke.

PITTSBURGH (3)
Best case: Panthers finally break through the Sweet 16 ceiling, riding their punishing defensive style to a validating Final Four. UCLA cannot handle Aaron Gray in the regional semis, and Pitt outmuscles Kansas in the regional final. Push to Atlanta lessens the Iron City dread of another oncoming Pirates season.

Worst case: Pitt team that lost three of its last six grinds to a halt in the second round against Duke. Gray is outplayed by the more skilled Josh McRoberts, and nobody can hit a key perimeter shot. Media vows to keep Panthers out of the Top 10 until they can prove something in March.

We can’t lose to Duke if they don’t even make it though. They hold a 40-38 lead at the half in what has been basically what we expected…a close one.

In the Western Pennsylvania market we can’t see the Marquette-Michigan State game but so far MU has looked really bad. Took them almost 10 minutes into the first half to put points up. UCLA was challenged by Weber State for about 10 minutes before breaking that one open at the half.

Pitt and Wright State in about an hour and a half. Have fun.

Ahh, it’s almost here. The start of the NCAA Tournament is close. Bad scare this morning as the DSL went out for more than an hour. Not a good scene. Rending of garments, teaching my daughter some new words, then trying to bribe her not to repeat them in front of her mother. The usual.

Of course, the 12 hours of good feelings and basketball will only be that way as long as Pitt wins. Does build a lot of anticipation with Pitt being the last game. Glad I have the DirecTV March Madness package. Just saw that Xavier is on at the same time and in the Ohio area, I already know which game they will be showing locally.

So let’s hit this quickly.

Keith Benjamin is right when he says the best thing to do with Wright State is put them down early.

The Panthers, he said, can’t come out slow again tonight in their NCAA Tournament opener against Wright State.

“You’ve got to go out and dominate the lower conferences and get them out of there,” he said. “You can’t let them gain confidence as the game goes on. That’s how you get upset.”

…

“Those guys are no different from us,” Benjamin said. “They are Division I basketball players. But, sometimes, they see ‘Pittsburgh’ or something like that, and it scares them a little bit. If after the first 10 minutes of the game, they are not afraid of you anymore, then you are in for a long game.

“But if you come out and do everything that you normally do and get Aaron Gray 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game — and he’s dominating and we’re hitting our 3s — that fear becomes bigger because they think they can’t do anything to win now. They will just quit.”

Of course, you can also bet that this is going on the bulletin board for the Raider players. Not to mention the fear that Pitt will come out tight thinking about how they have to do this and, well, that’s just not a path I want to travel.

The whole team is stressing getting off to a good start.

Joe Starkey is demanding at least the Sweet 16.

Luke Winn at SI.com talked music with Levon Kendall. I’m still trying to figure out Canadian alt-pop.

Of course Wright St. is confident of a win.  The Horizon League teams haven’t fared poorly in opening round games recently.

In three of the last four years, Horizon League teams have won at least one game in the NCAA, and in six of the last nine years.

The Wright State coach says his team has to be very, very good to beat Pitt.

“We have to have an exceptional night,” said WSU coach Brad Brownell of his 23-9 team. “There’s not just one thing you have to do. We have to play well in all areas.”

Gene Collier at the P-G says that really, DaShaun Woods has to have an amazing night for Wright State to win. Antonio Graves will be the primary in stopping that from happening.

Coach Jamie Dixon has nice things to say about Wright State.

Among the Wright State keys to victory — avoid foul trouble for the inside players (their forwards) and get Pitt to take more 3s.

Hal McCoy is a legendary baseball writer in the Cinci area. As he is down in Florida for spring training he caught up with Dick Vitale to talk a little bit about Wright State.

This year it crept up on me. It’s not like there’s tons of optimism or belief that this is going to be the turnaround. There’s more a sense of, well I guess we’ll find out if last year was rock-bottom before things start getting better of if there are further depths to plumb. Sorry, still feeling very cynical about things.

I’ll just try and get this quickly. One of the graduate assistants is now the Tight Ends Coach. Good luck to Brian Angelichio. I don’t know anything about him, but the TE has been one of the few consistent strong and bright areas from Harris to Wannstedt. Plus there is some serious talent and depth (go figure) at that spot, so just don’t screw it up.

Bob Junko has changed positions within the staff again.

After 14 seasons in numerous capacities, Pitt football associate head coach Bob Junko is moving to a newly created administrative post.Junko, 60, will focus on daily operations and working with the football alumni outreach program.

Last year, Junko moved from coaching to recruiting coordinator because of health issues. This reads like a continuation of those health issues. Stay well.

The #1 athlete and potential offensive threat from Pitt’s 2006 recruiting class is now a linebacker?

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Wednesday that Dickerson has been moved to outside linebacker, where he is expected to compete for the weak-side starting job.

“We’re trying to put Dorin in a position where he can help the team the fastest,” Wannstedt said. “Dorin is one of the strongest guys on our football team. He’s up to 225 pounds and he’s benching over 350 pounds. I told him, ‘We want to do what you want to do, but we’re looking for the best place for you to contribute.'”

This is either a brilliant move to get an athlete on the field at a need position where he will excel and a clear recognition of talents that will serve the team and Dickerson well. That or insanity at wasting a huge potential offensive weapon who could create chaos for opposing defenses by playing in the backfield and catching the ball. I’m going to reserve judgment — mostly.

Just one thought. It does seem from the article that Coach Wannstedt has fallen back to a natural state as seeing players in set positions and not putting hybrid athletes simply on the field and looking for ways to create opportunities to use them. That’s okay, even if I disagree. The thing is, he has to recruit that way and be up front with the recruits.

Tommie Campbell and Corey Davis are still suspended and little used Kelvin Chandler has left the program. As he only has a year left, I imagine he will look for a 1-AA or D-2  school if he still wants to play.

A Q&A with Coach Wannstedt. Obviously you will want to read it all.

Question: How do you feel about the quarterback competition, now that Tyler Palko has graduated?

Answer: I think we’ll come out of the spring feeling good about all the quarterbacks that are here. Billy Stull will start off with the first group. Dexter Davidson is coming off the (knee) injuries, and we’ve got walk-on Steve Malinchak, but it’s going to be a two-man battle, as far as reps, with Bill Stull and Kevan Smith.

Both guys will get the majority of the work. One thing I’m thinking about doing different than the past two: When we scrimmage, everything will be live. There will be no restrictions on quarterbacks. I want to find out who can sack a quarterback, and I want to find out which quarterback can make some plays under pressure, on his feet and with his mind. Both quarterbacks are similar. Billy has a little more experience and is an accurate passer. They both understand the offense. Kevan is more athletic and has the stronger arm.

Unserious, snarky thought about letting the QBs be “live.” He wants one or both hurt early so Bostick can come in and get the job. That or he just wants one hurt so he can make the easy choice and go with the one not hurt as the other will unfortunately fall behind on practice and learning the system.

It also mentions that Shane Murray is moving to Linebacker. Elijah Fields is being called out. No practices at high schools this year.

Okay, I still have to do my bracket and a ton of others. Before I do, a confession/disclaimer. I absolutely suck at brackets. I used to be good at it, but then Pitt started making the NCAA Tournament and I have not been able to keep my biases in check. Not just pro-Pitt, but the Big East since I would see a lot more of them play and it just ruined me in picking brackets.

Reminder and thanks to Dennis for setting it up the Pitt Blather bracket challenge. My entry is under the name “Aaron Gray’s Ankle.”

Now for those that love video game simulations, this might make you happy. EA Sports simulated the Tournament on March Madness 07.  Pitt made the Final Four. Here’s their full bracket (PDF). [If that link doesn’t work, go here.]

Finally Roto Rob is doing previews of teams. Here’s their Wright State.

A hell of a resource on looking at teams is HackTheBracket.com.